In continuing with our luxury hotel news today, we just wanted to inform you that the Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace in St. Petersburg will be opening this Sunday, July 7. Reservations for the hotel opened up back in April but that was when we thought the hotel was opening August 1. Now it's practically a month ahead of schedule. We likey.

The hotel has 151 rooms and 26 suites, all with views of either Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, the Aleksandrovsky Garden or the landmark Admiralty. Yet despite this being a new hotel, it's not entirely new money here. The Lion Palace dates back to the early 19th century when it was an apartment building for Russian royalty which was guarded by two marble lions. It was even name-checked in a poem by Alexander Pushkin in 1833, The Bronze Horseman. It's a perfect fit for Four Seasons.

As for the guest rooms, they are very much in the traditional and subdued Four Seasons style, as opposed to any Russian glitz. But they will have all the modern amenities such as a full marble bathroom, giant flat-screen TVs, another TV set within the bathroom mirror and high-speed internet along with toiletries from L'Occitane, Hermès and Bulgari.

While we were hoping for a late 2012 opening when we had a first look at some of its photos, things rarely go our way like that in a world of hotel delays, but reservations for Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace in St. Petersburg have now finally started for arrivals from August 1 this year. And as a bonus, the group has confirmed the long in the works Four Seasons Moscow, due later in 2013 right next to the capital’s Red Square, as well.

Dating back to the early 19th century, Four Seasons Lion Palace started its life as an apartment building for the city’s elite, and was famous enough in its day to be captured by Alexander Pushkin in 1833 in his poem The Bronze Horseman.

Though we managed a quick report on the opening of W St. Petersburg in 2011, we haven't since heard too much, hotel-wise, from the land of the tsars. But buzz is starting to build around the Four Seasons St. Petersburg, which is housed inside a 19th century Russian palace.

The hotel's website is up and running, complete with photos of the rooms, but it's a bit of a tease, as an actual opening date has been pushed back to "late-2012," and reservations remain closed.

We’ve been so obsessed with the weird shower curtain headboards and the did-they-didn’t-they celeb hookup of W London that our attention has wandered from the The W St. Petersburg recently, but with the Russki hotel nearing completion, we’re swiveling our heads back eastwards.

Last time we checked, the hotel was claiming an opening date of March 1, although it wouldn’t let you stay until April 1. And now, they’ve pushed it back further still: the website is now broadcasting an opening date of April 20.

While we track down the elusive W scent, there's one place you won't be smelling anytime soon--The W St. Petersburg, W's first location in Russia and in Eastern Europe.

Set to initially open on September 1, a commenter alerted us to a new opening date on the hotel's website--March 1, 2011. Now, how do you say "Bummer" in Russian?

Nevertheless, when the hotel opens in March it promises "spectacular views of St. Issac’s Cathedral" and a happening bar scene where "mingling and cocktails are the new social glasnost." (Note: fortunately the phrase "communist cool" is not found anywhere on the site.) You can also expect a terrace bar, a spa and a WET pool on-site.